Major Parties Duel over Whether Georgia Law Permits Early Voting for Senate Run-off on Saturday, November 26

Posted on by November 18, 2022
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The Georgia Democratic Party is currently suing the Georgia Secretary of State over whether early voting should be permitted on Saturday, November 26, for the U.S. Senate runoff. The law says no early voting is permitted on a Saturday that is one or two days after a holiday, but the Democratic Party argues that law doesn’t apply to run-offs. The Democratic Party points out that in the last U.S. Senate run-offs, in January 2021, the state permitted early voting on Saturday, December 26.

The national Republican Party has intervened in the case. The case is Democratic Party of Georgia v State, Superior Court, Fulton County, 2022-cv-372734. Here is the Republican National Committee brief, filed November 17.

Here is the Democratic Party response. Thanks to Democracy Docket for the links.

Kansas Republican Party Revokes Party Positions for Individuals Who Endorsed Independent Gubernatorial Candidate

Posted on by November 17, 2022
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According to this story, the Kansas Republican Party has removed all Republicans who endorsed independent gubernatorial candidate Dennis Pyle from their posts as local precinct officials. Earlier the party had removed all those who had signed the Pyle petition, but this move goes further.

Senator Dennis Pyle, elected to the Kansas Senate in 2004 as a Republican, switched his registration to independent in June 2022. He appears to be the only independent legislator in Kansas in 100 years. He is still in the State Senate because his term doesn’t expire until the end of 2024.

Ranked Choice Voting Ballot Measures Passed in Seven Localities

Posted on by November 17, 2022
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On November 8, voters in seven localities passed ballot measures to use ranked choice voting. Notably, in two of those jurisdictions, the measure calls for single transferable vote, which is a form of proportional representation. Those two places were Portland, Oregon, and Portland, Maine.

The other localities were: (1) Seattle, Washington; (2) Multnomah County, Oregon, for county office; (3) Evanston, Illinois; (4) Fort Collins, Colorado; (5) Ojai, California. Evanston is the first city in Illinois to adopt ranked choice voting.

Write-in Candidate Elected to Timberville, Virginia Town Council, Even Though he Didn’t Declare Until Election Day

Posted on by November 16, 2022
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Isaac Kelley was elected to the Timberville, Virginia, town council on November 8, 2022, even though he didn’t decide to run until noon on election day. The town was electing three members to the council. There were only two candidates on the ballot, so it was inevitable that one write-in candidate was going to win. But another individual, who already held local public office, was already running as a write-in.

Kelley received 100 write-ins; his write-in opponent received 82. See this story. Timberville has a population of 2,522 and is in Rockingham County.

Virginia has a declaration of candidacy requirement for write-in presidential candidates, but not for any other office. Therefore all write-ins (for office other than president) are valid. Thanks to Bryan Gilkerson for the link.